Changeable sign.



J. H. MCLAUGHLIN.

CHANGEABLE SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18. I9I5.

1,179,203. Patented Aim 1I, 1916.

Em.. IlI WHW),

@uvam/lio@ f )JOHN H. MGLAUGHLIN, or CANAJOHARIE, NEW Yom;l

cirANefnABIaa:y SIGN.

To all whom t may concern Be itknwn that I, IJOHN H. .MCLAUGH- LIN, a cltizen of the United States, residing at Canajoharie, inthe county of Montgom-P ery and State of New York, have invented Aso ' Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the certain newand useful Improvementsv in i Changeable Signs; and Ido declare the follo-wing to be afull, clear, and exact descrip- -tion of the' invention, such as will enable others sldlled in the art to which it appers" L 'tains to make and use the same.

Another object isto'provide ocharacters" having simple and eflicient means for-`de tachably connecting them tothe body l of` the sign and forreliably retaining them in adjusted position. l

With 4heseI and other objects in View, thel invention consists 'of certain novel features 'of construction, and the combination and `arrangeyement of parts as will be more fully described and claimed. j

y In the accompanying drawings: Figure l represents av front elevation of a sign constructed inf accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 represents a rear elevation thereof;

line 3-3 of Fig. 1;' Fig. 4 is a front elevation, showing a slightly different form of the invention; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation thereof; Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken 'I on the line 6 6 of Figf4; Fig. 7 is la longitudinal seetiontaken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4; Fig. 8 isa detailed perspective View of one of the'v figure-carrying plates, showing the arrangement of the hook when the plate is composed of cardboardl or similar4 material; Fig. 9 is a similar view Vof the plate when constructed of sheet metal.

In the embodiment illustrated a suitable supporting plate 1 is shown 'composed of wood, metal, pasteboard, Celluloid," or any other suitable material which is provided with a pair of parallel slits 2 and 3'spaced a suitabledistance apart to receive between them the sign characters to be displayed and Appli-cation filed February is 1915. serial No. 9,074.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 11, 1916.

which-may be of any desired size according tothe vwishes of the exhibitor. These -4 slits 2 and 3 terminate at their opposite ends in round apertures 4 which prevent the tearing of the strip atl the ends of the sl1ts and provide laterally yieldable tongues on the inner sides of the slots to prdvide for the ready insertion ofthe sign characters t o be described, the outer wall forming a r1g1d character retaining member to hold the inserted characters against lateral movement and wabbling, thereby preventing rattling.

The various sign characterswhich ,may be letters or figures or words are shown mounted on lplates 5 which may be of any desired configuration, being here shown rec- 'l tangular and of a`length greater than the distance between the slits 2 and 3 which form the coperating supporting means. for sald characters. These plates 5 may be composed of cardboard, sheet metal, or other suitablepmaterial and are preferably fold- `edover at one end .tov form support engaging hooks 6 which are adapted to hook over. the upper edge of the strip 10 which is formed between the slits 2 andn3 of the plate 1.- The folded end of this plate 5 as shown in4 Fig. 8 has arranged between the rear face of said plate andthe innerl face of the folded end adjacent the line of folding by soldering, gluing `or otherwise, a spacing element 6a preferably composed of the material of which said plate is constructed,

which causes the free ends of the hooks 6 rto lie in parallel lrelation tothe outer face ofsaid plate 5, and thus provide means 4for securely `clamping the upper edge of the strip 10 between said hook 6 and the outer faceof its plate 5, and also. as means for Acausing I.thefoldable or bent end of the plate 5 to extendfbeyond the outer `wall of the slit in which it is inserted, as' shown 1n Figs. 2 to 6, wherebyv the plate 5 1s securely.

clamped between the walls of the slit.'- These plates 5 after lthe hook 6 has v`been folded, arestill'of a length greater: than the width of the strip 10 and hence Aprovide means for extending through the slit 3 at the lower edge of said strip to assist in retaining the plates -5 in operative engagement with the plate 1 and toy rehably holdv them against slipping when so applied. Theschara'cter to be displayed 1s shown mounted on the front face of the` plate 5,v

.while Athe hook 6 is disposed on the rear face thereof, and these characters may be printed, embossed, or applied in anyv suitable manner to said plates 5.'

ln assembling the sign characters to present the word or the number to be displayed, the individual plates 5 are connected with` Aand the character will thus be securely held in assembled position. rllhe other characters are then similarly applied and after the desired# word or price to be exhibited is formed on theplate l, said plate will be ready to be placed on exhibition at any desired point.

In the form shown in Figs. 4, 5. 6 and 7,

the plate la in addition to having the longi-v tudinally extending parallel slits Q- and 43 is provided in the spaces beyond said slits with pairs of transversely extending longitudinally spaced slots 7 and 8 which are provided at their opposite ends with rounded apertures 9 to prevent tearing `of the.

plate at the ends of said slots. Adapted to be mounted in these slots are shingles 11 on which arev printed 'or otherwise mountedV suitable words to be exhibited in connection with the sign characters which are mounted on `the plate l between the slits l2 and?, thereof. These shingles' 11 are provided at their opposite ends with longitudinally eX- tending retaining tongues 12' which taper toward their free ends and are designed to fit in the slots 7 and 8 having a wedge like connection therewith, said shingles 11 being made wider than the lengths of the slots and consequently the tapering tongues 12 thereof when inserted in said slots will fit therein with a wedge-like engagement and thus securely hold said shingles against longitudinal movement in the slots after they have been once inserted.

ln Fig. 9, the character carrying plate 5 is shown constructed of sheet metal, and when so constructed, thehooked end 6 thereof is bent, to lie in a plane parallel with the body of the plate, and no spacing element is found necessary.

l claim as my invention:

A changeable sign comprising a supporting plate provided with a pair of parallel laterally spaced slits, and character carrying plates of a length greater than the distance between said slits, and adapted for insertion in said slits, said character carrying plates each having one end bent inwa'rdly to form a hook for engaging the inner wall of one of said slits, and a spacing element arranged at the bent portion of said sign carrying plate `between the opposed faces 'of thebody of said plate and said hook lto provide for the extension of said bent end beyond the slit when the charactercarrying plate is applied, whereby it is held securely in operative position.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. JOHN H. MCLAUGHLIN. Witnesses:

PETER B. VAN WIE, NEWTON J. HENNESY. 

